Underground Wonderland
by Kurum
Summary: Underground Wonderland has one goal in mind and that's to take hold of the Immortal Relics. With hunters, assassins, and others out to stop them, Wonderland's going to throw all it can to accomplish the goal. But is there more than meets the eye to them?
1. Morning Meeting

The young man stood in the middle of the street, staring up at the building before him. Hour upon hour he didn't move from that spot and his hands never left the warmth of his coat's pockets. The drips of water coming down his brother's face echoed in his ears. "Where does your grief lay?" came a voice from behind. "Or have you none for even your brother, Cheshire Cat?"

He closed his eyes, not even thinking over the questions. "I do not know." That was his only response before opening his eyes again to stare up at his brother once more. He was pinned to the building before him with spikes of stone that held his arms up and pierced his chest twice. Red coursed down his hands and mouth, stained his clothes, and flowed onto the walkway to create a puddle. But none of that was what kept the Cheshire Cat there. No. What had kept him there was the tears that flowed down his brother's eyes.

The Mad Hatter stepped towards the Cheshire Cat, looking up at his dead twin. "Perhaps you truly did not care for him as you had intended. Or perhaps you cared more than you had liked to have thought once before."

Again he gave the same response. "I do not know."

The Hatter lifted his left hand to his shoulder, patting it twice before turning to leave. "He is of the past. You made the decision of your own accord, despite what you were told. We wait no longer for you. We must move on."

"Of the past?" Those words echoed in the back of his mind, painfully breaking forward through any other thoughts he may have had. Turning to see where the Hatter went he saw the others standing there in the shadows of the moonless night near the streetlight. He could easily tell who was who just by their silhouettes. Glancing back to the other Cheshire Cat, to his twin brother, he hoped his eyes would gain some type of emotion or that he could come to understand why his brother's tears had shocked him more than the act he had committed towards his own blood. But nothing came. His eyes stayed emotionless and he still did not understand.

"Goodbye, brother," he whispered into the cold night air, finally moving from the spot he had been in for hours upon hours to join the others.

"Liar." He stopped, eyes finally filling with an emotion. Shock. "Liar." Cautiously he turned to peer over his shoulder to the building, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. He waited a moment, watching his brother. "Liar!" The movement of his lips struck fear into the heart of the Cheshire Cat, his mind and body becoming boggled. "LIAR!" His brother's eyes shifted to stare at him angrily and all light vanished into darkness.

"LIAR!" The voice changed, eyes shooting open only to close from the bright light of the sun. Slowly he shifted to sit up, squinting his eyes in the direction of where the voice had come from. At the doorway stood a short girl with pale blonde hair staring at him quite irritated. "It's about time you woke up. I've been calling for you for the past ten minutes. Now get out of bed and come to breakfast." With that the girl left.

Letting himself fall back onto the bed he let out a sigh, eyes staring at the beige colored ceiling. "Stupid nightmares," he said to himself in a low whisper. Rolling out of bed he quickly dressed and headed down to the kitchen, seeing the girl who had woken him from the nightmare and a young man who looked exactly like him but with blue stripes running across his orange hair. Liar had red stripes running across his orange hair. "Princess. Truth. A good morning to you both."

The girl, Princess, turned to look at him and smiled a bit. "Morning sleepyhead." Princess turned back to the television in front of her, eating half a bagel with cream cheese smeared on the flat top. It was what she usually ate in the morning while watching the news to see if they had anything to say about Underground Wonderland.

Truth glanced at Liar for a moment before tossing an orange his way. "You overslept, brother," he stated. "Didn't sleep so soundly, did we?" He was joking, knowing the answer to that already.

Liar caught the orange with his left hand and stared at it for a moment before going over to stand beside him. "Slept soundly until the last hour, I think," he answered, peering over his twin's shoulder. "But as always, can't seem to remember it."

"Maybe nightmares are better left forgotten." Truth was peeling an orange he had gotten for himself before Liar came in. Fruits were scarcely the meals they had in the morning but due to having a meeting soon with the others they had to eat something that took no time to prepare. They just took a bit of time to peel.

Princess had woken up a bit earlier so as to nicely toast her bagel slices. She already knew the routine when it came to morning meetings and knew that if she wanted to eat what she wanted then she would have to wake up early. Liar had told her that after the first two meetings when she came to live in the castle almost two years ago. The other people who attended the meetings frightened her the first time she saw them, seeking shelter behind the only two who didn't make her feel so small. Truth and Liar. They were her only true friends and the only two people she truly spoke to, mainly due to them being her protectors.

"Alright, Princess, it's time to head off," Liar said, grabbing her from around the waist so as to pull her away from the television.

"Why does this meeting have to be so early?" she whined, letting him drag her as that seemed to be the usual routine in the morning as well. She really didn't like morning meetings. She preferred to watch the news and know of what was happening outside the castle walls and outside the city they took residence in. "Do I even have to really be there? I'm not that important of a person compared to the rest of you guys."

"Now don't say that," Truth said. "You're an important person just like the rest of us. Who would say otherwise?"

"Tick and Tock would say otherwise," she answered. The twins grimaced at the thought of those two. They did not get along well and for what reasons Princess, as well as most others in the castle, was still trying to figure out. "Besides, I really want to see if they're talking about us on the news. So can I _please_ miss this one little meeting?" She knew they wouldn't let her miss a single meeting but it was still worth a try in asking.

"Princess," Liar began, "you may not think you're important but you really shouldn't listen to those two arrogant players of time. If you weren't important, would you have two protectors? Two guards to be there to save you from harm and take a bullet if called upon to do so? ('Like you'd take a bullet for me, you liar,' she said under her breath.)"

"He does have a point," commented Truth. "Many important people of the past and present have protectors so don't sell yourself so short."

"I guess." She knew she was important to some degree. Liar and Truth had been telling her that for as long as she knew them. Though at times she doubted it. "It just perplexes me to understand why I have to be at these meetings," she said, no longer being dragged as she walked into the next corridor between the twins. "I never do anything but sit there and listen. Really, it's pretty boring."

She heard Truth and Liar chuckle quietly behind her back. She ignored it, not saying another word as they came to the staircase leading up to the sixth floor. Their rooms were located on the fifth floor along with the second kitchen. The castle itself consisted of many floors and, with it being a castle, there were also many secret rooms and passageways that those who lived in the castle, known as the Cards, knew not of. Once they reached the sixth floor they headed into one of the secret passageways, lifting out a book halfway, turning it to the left, and pushing it back into the bookshelf. The bookshelf itself moved back into the wall before sliding to the side to reveal a door in which they entered through. Once the door was closed the bookshelf quickly returned to its regular post.

The candles on the wall lit up instantly as they walked down the corridor to the next door. Alice had always wondered how they did that and only guessed that it was done by magic. She never did ask. Truth opened the door that lead into a large room with a long royal styled table in the center and chairs to match. Princess could already see Tick and Tock sitting at the table across from where they were to sit. Admittedly they both rubbed her the wrong way, often making her quite cross.

"I see Alice and her Cheshire Cats have finally arrived," stated Tick, pushing his top hat up with one finger to get a better view at them. Though it made no difference as his hair covered over his eyes. His smirk, on the other hand, was as visible as the sun on a cloudless day.

"Shut up, Hatter," said the twins in unison, irritation clear in their voices as they shot glares to the Mad Hatter. Rolling her eyes she went to sit down, Liar and Truth following behind her. The Cheshire Cats, Liar and Truth, sat beside one another while Princess, Alice, sat closest to the two throne appearing chairs on the end. Wasn't long before the others arrived and sat in their seats, the King and Queen of Hearts coming in last to sit at the thrones.

"So what have we to speak of today, Madame?" inquired a man with short, messy black hair. He wore gold toned glasses over his eyes that were just as odd as him. The glasses were more like binoculars to Princess since they were thick, zoomed in and out, and didn't seem like glasses at all. But that's what he called them and she did not argue.

Madame, the Queen of Hearts, was a twisted woman in her late twenties and possibly early thirties. Her silky black hair curved over her right eye before swaying behind her shoulders, leaving a lock hanging over her right shoulder that curled at the end. She always held the same expressionless look over her face the same distant look in her light blue eyes. Princess had once asked if she put anything in her face to make her look that way but the answer was no. Her face was naturally that way.

"According to Feather," she began, hands resting on her lap, "there may be information on the whereabouts of one of the maps at Fehk island. Though he did gain information as to which of the three areas on Fehk may contain the information." All eyes turned to the small boy sitting across from Princess.

Feather was the only one in the room who was a child besides her. He had long pale blonde hair, just as Princess did, that was tied back in a ponytail with locks running down the side of his face and bangs covering all but the center of his forehead above his purple toned eyes. He was the messenger of Underground Wonderland, famously known as the White Rabbit. He wasn't a pushover, however, despite being a child. He was the messenger but there was no chance he would let the saying 'the messenger is always the first to die' be true.

"I sent the letter just as you had told me, Madame," he said, ignoring everyone's gazes while keeping his own on the queen. "While I was there I heard one of the archeologist speak about an old map someone had found, but they never said what kind it was, nor where it was. It may very well be on Fehk but it also may very well have been moved already. Hard to say."

Madame looked from Feather to everyone else, gaining their eyes. "Very well. I leave the matter of finding where this map's location is to Hide and Seek. Gain all the information you can at any cost necessary. Understood?" The two that sat beside Tick and Tock nodded.

Hide was a young woman with long light blue hair running down her back with locks coming down the side of her face. Seek was a young man with dark green hair spiked off to the sides while behind held up with a band. Few strands of hair stuck out from the center of his head and curled at the tip like a question mark. Both had headbands with the initials to their names sewn on the front. She wore it slanted so the letter faced right. He had his centered over his forehead. Tattoo like marks ran up Hide's jaw and across her cheeks, stopping just before getting to her nose. Seek's tattoo like marks were different. His curved over his eye from the top where his eyebrows showed, curved to the side of his face before going straight across his cheek, stopping just before his nose as Hide's, going down the side of his face again, curving behind his neck, and then almost curling at the front right side of his neck.

Seek had always frightened Princess. No more so than when he smiled devilishly. Feather himself disliked Seek quite to a high degree. He disliked that Seek was always the one sent out to find him when he was nowhere to be found. There was a reason for that but he still disliked, and almost hated, it. He had complained to Madame and Sire about it but they never did anything. Though, he never expected them to.

"What'll the rest of us do?" asked the man with odd glasses. "Are we just going to sit here on our behinds and do nothing while Hide and Seek have all the fun? There are three locations so why not send out more of us? I'm sure Tick and Tock would just _love_ to head out." He knew Tick was shooting him a glare, despite his hair being unable to show it. He merely continued to smile his usual cheery smile, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table and his face in the palms of his hands. "Or you could send the Cheshire Cats as well."

This caught Princess's attention. If they left on a mission then she would have to go with them. They couldn't just leave her, could they? They were meant to protect her, after all. She watched as the wins exchanged glances at one another before turning to Madame. "It's true we could cover more ground and make this a quicker mission by sending more of us, but." As Truth stopped, Liar leaned forward.

"But there's a slight possibility this could be a trap," continued Liar. "Would be best to just send Hide and Seek. But we do agree."

"That sending Tick and Tock would work well, also." Truth continued. Finishing one another's sentences was something they did too often at meetings. "After all, if this is a trap, they can simply turn to the hands of time for assistance."

"Unless they don't think they're up for the challenge that may be ahead." Both smiled at Tick and Tock, as if silently challenging them.

Princess had to resist speaking her mind to the two. She knew why they didn't accept missions and it made her cross. She looked over to the queen, hoping she'd send them as well. But the queen hadn't sent them out on missions once since she came to live in the castle. Since she became part of Underground Wonderland. _Please send us out as well_, she thought. _Send us out somewhere. Anywhere!_

Madame looked over to Sire, who in turned looked at her. She wanted his opinion and he knew that. "I believe I'll agree with Eyes," he said, looking from her to Tick and Tock. "Tick and Tock will be sent out as well to assist Hide and Seek." Tick shot another glare at Eyes, the man with the odd glasses. His smile merely widened a bit more, as if to mock him. "As for Truth and Liar," he continued, "they will not be heading to assist them. God only knows they cause enough trouble as it is."

Though they hadn't been sent out on missions for quite a long time it was true beyond doubt that they caused trouble. A remarkable amount of trouble. It was actually one of the small reasons they weren't sent out on missions. If anything they were sent out to assist and be the decoys. That's when their troublesome ways came in handy. Still, Princess wanted so badly for them to be given something. Even if it meant just going to the only other city on the island of Maldori.

"A thought, Madame," spoke Tick, turning to the queen with a smile. "Why not send the Cheshire Cats to the town of Lluvia? Dear Alice shouldn't be kept locked up here forever, after all." For a moment Princess believed he had read her mind until she remembered that it was Tick who had said this. The Mad Hatter, if anything, was doing this just to get under the Cheshire Cats' skin. "Aside from that, I say, they may find some valuable information as hushed rumors have it that someone there may very well know the whereabouts to another map." Without looking she could feel the twins glaring at the Hatter. She knew they wanted to protest going and she just would not allow it.

"Madame," Princess said rather loudly, surprising several in the room, "let us go to the town of Lluvia. I'm sure we can handle finding out whether or not these hushed rumors are true, and I'm quite positive that if I keep a close eye on Liar and Truth that they won't cause much trouble, if any." She tried to muster up as much courage as she could under the queen's stare, trying to convince her to let them go. But still Madame's eyes were unchanged, making her harder to read than stone.

Everyone was silent. This was the first time Princess had ever spoken up during a meeting. They'd no clue or idea as to what the queen's response would be so they did all they could in that situation: they patiently waited. "If you are certain," she spoke at last. "You, as well as the Cheshire Cats, shall go to the town of Lluvia to reveal whether or not those 'hushed rumors' are false. Should they be true, you will follow them. Should they be false, return at once. Understood?"

"Yes, your majesty," said the Cheshire Cats, staring over at the happy and quite anxious girl to their rights. They weren't very happy with the decision made. After that Madame had nothing else to say and neither did anyone else. Thus that concluded the meeting. Hide, Seek, Tick, and Tock were already setting out to the island known as Fehk to proceed with the mission. It wouldn't take them long to get there as it was the neighboring island to Maldori, the island they were currently on. One hour away by plane. Two hours, at most, depending on the whether.

Princess was happily skipping to her room to pack, Liar and Truth walking behind her. They hadn't said a word since the meeting ended and she could only guess they were upset. "Oh come on," she said, ceasing to skip once she reached the door to her room. "I know you two would rather I stay here where it's nice and safe, surrounded by Cards, but I think this'll be good for me. As Tick said, 'Dear Alice shouldn't be kept locked up forever.'" The fact that she quoted him made them grimace more than before. She simply rolled her eyes and opened her door to head in. "In any case, Madame already said we're going and we can't go against the Queen of Hearts or it'll be off with our heads. And should that happen, it would make you two protectors look ridiculous." With that she shut the door.

Liar and Truth exchanged glances before sighing. It was true they couldn't actually go against the queen's word and they didn't want to. Whether they wanted to or not they were heading to the town of Lluvia. "Pack an umbrella, brother," Truth said.

"You read my mind," he replied.


	2. Lluvia

Lluvia lay in the continent known as Principale. The weather was mostly cloudy, barely letting the sun greet the people who lived there in that town. It constantly rained, which explained the cloudy weather. When Alice and the Cheshire Cats arrived it was pouring and had been an hour before. Luckily, Truth and Liar were kind enough to tell her to pack an umbrella. They hadn't told her why but now she understood. Lluvia was the town of rain.

Princess had never been on a mission with the Cheshire Cats, or with anyone, for that matter. So it wasn't a real surprise that they had to go incognito. What did surprise her, however, was that Liar and Truth chose not to. "You two are going to get caught by the police or worse if you don't wear some kind of disguise," Princess warned, putting on a light blue beanie to hide her hair in. "This is my first mission with you two and I don't want to mess it up." She wore a navy blue jacket with gray jeans, her hair well hidden in the beanie.

Truth and Liar smiled at her, dressed in their usual outfits of stripped, long-sleeved sweater-like shirts that matched the stripes in their hair with the accompanying black stripes. Their shoes were the same color and their pants black. Much like Hide and Seek they, too, wore headbands around their heads. Theirs were striped as their shirts. They matched quite well and the colors made it simple to tell who was Truth and who was Liar, along with how their hair was styled and the colored stripes on them. Truth's hair was combed left with blue stripes while Liar's was combed right with red stripes.

"This may be your first missions," said Liar, "but it isn't ours. Quite sure we'll be safe."

"Safe?" She highly doubted that. "How could it possibly be safe for people like us? Underground Wonderland…ians."

"It's because we're 'Underground Wonderlandians,' as you put it, that we're safe," said Truth. "If we're caught then Liar will simply tell them that it's a lie while I make the lie true."

"It is our specialty, after all," added Liar.

She let out a sigh, zipping up her jacket. "Just…Try to keep a low profile. I told the Madame I'd keep you out of as much trouble as I could and I don't want her thinking I'm a liar. No offense Liar. ('None taken,' he replied quickly.) So please, I beg you both, _don't_ do anything stupid." They each raised a hand up, promising to act their best. She was going to hold them to that promise.

Leaving the rather fancy motel they were staying at, Princess opened up her umbrella once outside. She could hear the rain pattering against the clear exterior as she walked down the street. Truth and Liar weren't far behind her with black umbrellas open to shield themselves from the water and pedestrian stares. Catching but a glimpse of the weather on the television the rain was not going to cease anytime soon. They'd be lucky if it stopped at all that day.

"Where are we going?" Princess asked, looking left and right down alleyways, streets, and into shop windows. She may have been leading but she had no clue to where she was leading them. Several times they warned her of puddles, telling her to go around. They didn't give a response to her question. At least not in words. They simply maneuvered her by the shoulders down several streets before coming to a large building. "And this is?"

"The library," they answered. Their answer repeated in her head as she stared up and down at the large gray building. Its structure looked worn from the outside. As if it had stood there for well over a century handling the rain on its own day after day. Princess wouldn't have been surprised if that were true or if a piece of the structure suddenly broke off from the side of the roof.

"It's probably warmer inside," she heard Truth say.

"Hopefully it isn't leaking." That was Liar's remark. They gently nudged her shoulders, leading her inside.

Inside was much warmer. There weren't any leaking ceilings, to their relief. Rows and rows of bookcases were filled, creating aisles upon aisles. People could be seen sitting down at the chairs, tables, and desks provided with an open book in their hands or a computer in front of them as they typed away. Few had stacks of books beside them. The librarians sat at their desks, checking-in and checking-out books. Some were going up and down the aisles, placing the books back where they belonged. Others who were going up and down the aisles were helping those who followed find books.

Princess looked up at Truth and Liar, watching them scan the area before them, as if making sure no one was watching them from behind one of the many bookcases. Calmly they walked towards the staircase without a word being said, umbrella in one hand while the other stayed hidden in the long sleeve. She followed behind them, wondering where they were headed. Wondering what was on the second floor and why they had come to the library in the first place.

The stairs they had taken took them to a rather large room with aisles of books on bookcases, maps on the wall, and wide windows stacked against the wall near a round table. Books were stacked on top of the table, few spread out open, and a seat was pulled out to let them know someone was there. But the room was silent. The only sound heard was that of the rain hitting against the glass windows by the table. The light was much dimmer than that of the first floor. As if only the light from outside illuminated it.

The atmosphere in the room was heavy and it frightened Princess. She stayed close to Truth and Liar, looking to make sure no one was behind them. "Hiding, you think?" asked Truth, his voice low and casual. It caught her attention as she stared up once more at the two.

Liar chuckled. "Blending among the books, it would seem." He took a few steps forward, stopping at the first aisle of bookcases to peer down before proceeding to the next one.

"Princess, please take a seat at the table and feel free to read a book while you wait," said Truth as he, too, began to peer down the aisles as Liar. She didn't hesitate to obey orders, pulling out a seat at the table and sitting down with the umbrella resting in her lap. She could no longer see the Cheshire Cats as they disappeared behind the many books.

The books on the table seemed old and wrinkled. The pages of the open books were speckled and almost yellow. She pulled one of them towards her but couldn't make out what the words printed. She only recognized one word. "Neverland," she whispered, speaking no louder in fear of being heard by whoever they were looking for. She remembered reading a book back at the castle about the island known as Neverland that was destroyed and sunk due to a hurricane. There weren't any survivors and the island itself just disappeared without a trace under the deep waters. It wasn't long until treasure hunters and excavators made Neverland a legend and fairytale like Atlantis. Even Wonderland was turned into a fairytale.

"With fairy's dust you must believe, to sore the sky from dusk to dawn." That was her favorite quote from one of the books she had read. She pushed the book to where it was before taking a gander out the window.

People walked down the streets with open umbrellas as cars and trucks passed by. People entered shops across the street here and there, greeting people with smiles and a wave of the hand. Looking left she could see three people chatting amongst themselves under two large umbrellas. Their clothes didn't seem to match with the scenery, making them stick out as much as Liar and Truth had. She guessed they were tourist of some sort. They each held out only what she could make out to be four little trinkets before they were put away. Curiously, she leaned closer to the window before staring back around at the sound of many books falling onto the floor.

Truth and Liar emerged from the bookcases at last. Relief swept over Princess a moment before she caught glimpse of them dragging someone by the arms. It was a woman dressed in a thin gray sweater and pale yellow dress that reached past her knees. Her black boots were a bit torn and worn out from constant use. When she was forcefully sat down on the already pulled out chair Princess could see how scared for her life she was behind the thick glasses over her eyes. Golden-brown strands of hair came undone from the bun on the back of her head. She stared from the two men to Princess, ceasing to struggle instantly.

"Are you…Alice of Underground Wonderland?" she asked in disbelief. Princess didn't know whether to answer that, seeking an answer from one of her protectors. She didn't attain one from them and thus nodded to the woman. A breath escaped her lips as she sat there, bluish green eyes staring into Princess' light brown eyes. "You poor girl." That's all she said before Liar and Truth slammed their hands onto the table quite loudly, gaining her attention once more and causing Princess to jump a bit in her seat.

"You're quite the slippery woman to catch, did you know that?" Truth asked, leaning against the table with his arms crossed now, eyes in her direction. The woman gave no answer.

"You were quite fortunate to have passed us by and by without so much as a sound, Milady Archer," said Liar, leaning against the chair she was in, his head close to hers from behind. She almost shivered at him speaking her name so nonchalant. Princess was admittedly confused, not knowing at all who she was, even if she did know who _she_ was.

"I was indeed quite fortunate," she said at last, "but it appears as though my fortunate has run out. I blame only myself for not haven left here only minutes before your arrival and I now pray that the hunters come in time."

_Hunters?_ Princess pondered. Eyes popped into her mind and his explanation of the Wonderland Hunters whose duties were to take down Underground Wonderland by many means if not all. There were other hunter-like groups out to take down Underground Wonderland but they were the only ones who also had the name 'Wonderland' within the title of their own name. She'd never seen any of them before except for the day she was saved from her own home to the city of Wonderland. Cheshire Cat Hunters quickly took chase on Truth and Liar but they managed to get away.

"What do you know of the Relic Maps, Milady Archer?" She heard Truth ask this, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Is that the reason for these books, hm?" He acted so different than how she knew him. He was so kind and childish and worry free at the castle. But now, he was acting so malicious. Liar wasn't any different. Compared to his carefree, childish, and often rude ways, he was just as nasty if not nastier. Both their eyes, once holding some type of emotion, seemed vanished of all feeling.

Milady Archer gave no response as she meekly stared down at her lap. She was afraid, that much was clear. Princess hadn't ever seen a person so frightened and in turn made her fear for her own life. She wasn't sure what the Cheshire Cats were going to do if she didn't speak. Or even if she did speak, for that matter. The already heavy atmosphere became heavier and heavier with each passing minute of silence.

Truth went to the window and leaned against the wall beside it, peering out to all the people under the raining sky. He watched them and said nothing, eyes darting from person to person, watching them closely for only a moment before moving to the next. Liar stayed beside Milady Archer, still leaning against the chair with closed eyes.

"You know what we'll do to get you to talk, milady," Liar said, voice still nonchalant. "We will do the same as before until none are left within your family." Her breath caught in her throat, memories flooding in her mind from what he said. Princess stayed silent, fear stopping her from making a sound. She would have stopped breathing all together if it wasn't what she had to do to stay alive.

Once again Milady Archer stared at Princess, eyes softening a bit with care. "You really are a poor girl." She didn't understand that. Poor girl? How was she a poor girl? Liar grabbed her hand and jerked it up over her head, telling to quite playing games and begin speaking.

"Wait," Princess said, voice shaking in fear. Liar stopped, staring the young girl. Truth did nothing. "I…I want to know what she means by 'poor girl.' So let her go and let her explain it to me." Her hands gripped onto the umbrella in her lap tightly, fear clear in her eyes as she stared at Liar. He stared back for a moment before complying with her orders and letting go of Milady Archer, stepping only a step away from her. She heard Miss Archer sigh a bit, staring at Princess in gratitude. "Please, speak," she told her.

Miss Archer bit her bottom lip and tried to smile at the young girl calmly. "Alice, you've no idea what these two have done," she said, voice still holding a hint of fear as she spoke low. "You can't trust them or anyone in Underground Wonderland. You must leave that place. Go to Hayren so that the Wonderland Hunters can protect you. You must–"

"Why am I to trust you and not them?" Princess interrupted. "I know that the Wonderland Hunters have it out for Underground Wonderlanders, such as myself, so it could be a trap. You could be leading me into a trap." If there was anything she had learned from Tick and Tock it was that people could lie, could set out traps for them. Traps to turn them in, traps to take advantage, and traps to even end their lives. It was a very unkindly truth when it came to being part of Underground Wonderland.

She shook her head. "I'm telling you the truth." Her voice became a bit more higher to hear. "You mean nothing to Underground Wonderland but the Wonderland Hunters are trying to save you. In their care you'll be safe and protected. They won't throw you away like the scum that holds these criminals together."

"_Scum_?" Princess felt insulted by that. "How can you call them– no, _us_ –scum? You don't even know who we are!"

"But I do!" she protested. "You're just like the others. The girls who came before you. All the Alice before you. You can't depend on the Cheshire Cats to protect you. Not now, not ever. They'll be the death of you, Alice." Silence returned to the room as Princess stared at Milady Archer. She looked at Liar who merely stared back with empty eyes. Truth was busy with what was going outside to bother looking at them. For the first time with Liar and Truth around, she felt small and alone. She didn't say a word, eyes looking down to her lap and the umbrella her hands gripped so tightly in fear.

"Princess," Truth spoke, his voice sounding gentle towards the girl, "would you like to return home soon?" She found that a rather odd question to ask. It was off topic. Still, when he looked at her, she nodded. "Then we'll return home. We'll pack up and catch the next flight out of here." He walked over to Princess and held out his hand to her, waiting for her to take it before leaving down the stairs. Liar didn't follow.

It wasn't long before they were walking outside in the rain again with their umbrellas open. No words were spoken as they walked back to the motel. They didn't even exchange looks. She quietly packed, her mind jumping back and forth from what Milady Archer had told her to the little interrogation the Cheshire Cats put her through. All the way back to the motel she hadn't seen or even heard Liar. Several times she looked back, but he wasn't there. It worried her a bit, though it frightened her more to think what he may have stayed behind to do. Especially to the woman.

"Are you ready to go?" she heard Truth say, standing at her doorway. She turned and looked at him, emotion in his eyes again. She nodded in response, strolling her light blue, yellow polka dot covered suitcase towards him.

"Where's Liar?" she asked, unsure as to whether she actually wanted an answer or not. "What's going to happen to that woman?"

Truth let his lips form a friendly smile as they walked down the corridor. "Don't worry about that, Princess. Liar will return before we set off home and that woman will probably be taken to headquarters for further interrogation by the Cards."

She stared long and hard at him, wondering if he was lying. She couldn't tell and it bothered her. "Alright," she said in a low voice, eyes directing forward as they walked. She held onto Truth's hand as they walked. This was her first mission and it was frightening. She couldn't make heads or tails as to what had transformed the Cheshire Cats. Was that how they acted on all missions? Was that how they were before she came to Underground Wonderland? What about the past Alice girls the woman had told her? So many questions lurked in her mind. She didn't speak, however. She stayed quiet, fear lingering inside of her. She would wait.

Wait to have her questions answered.


	3. A Lie from Truth

Princess hadn't spoken much to Liar or Truth in the past week. She wasn't able to shake off what had happened on the mission. Couldn't shake off what the woman they called Milady Archer told her. Couldn't shake off the fear she had felt over how her two protectors had acted. She had so many questions locked in her mind with fear dangling the key just barely out of reach. One question that concerned her the most was of Milady Archer: What had happened to her?

"Hey, Charles!" she called out, running towards a man with dark blue hair spiked back going down one of many corridors of the second floor. He turned around, looking at her quizzically with gentle hazel toned eyes for a moment before smiling. He stopped and turned fully around, bowing to her politely. She sighed, a bit irritated by that. "Stop that, Charles."

"You're the princess, miss Alice," he said, standing up straight with his arms at his side, "so it's only right I show my respect with a bow. Also, I'm referred as one of few Jack of Spades." She knew that. He was a Jack among the many Cards in the castle. A high rank beside the Ace and Joker. Even so, she preferred to call him by his real name. She liked the name Charles quite a bit.

"We've been over this, _Charles_," she said, crossing her arms. "I'm not an actual princess and I don't like calling you 'Jack of Spades.' If anything, I'll call you Card Charles." He gave a slight nod towards that, figuring it worked as well. He didn't actually mind her calling him Charles but it amused him to see her become agitated by it.

"As long as you're Alice, you're a princess. Now did you need something from me?" he asked, looking down at the girl. "Or were you just checking to see if I'd stopped bowing to you?" He'd known her since he was a seven among the Cards, spiraling up the ranks in the past few years since she arrived. They'd gotten to know one another well and he was happy to say they were friends. She didn't feel comfortable being bowed to by someone she didn't know, let alone a friend, so she often checked to see if he continued to do so. He never did stop.

"I wanted to ask you something." She didn't know whether to just come right out and say what the question was, or ask little questions leading up to the actual one.

"Go ahead." His voice was so casual and light, making it quite simple to talk to him.

"Well…You see, the thing is…" She stopped, uncrossing her arms. She peered behind him and then behind herself, making sure no one was coming. "Do you know if someone by the name of Archer was brought here?" she inquired in a low whisper so that he may only hear.

He looked off to the side, putting a hand up to his chin in thought. He often did that when thinking. "I don't believe any of the Cards have," he answered, staring back at her. "The Jacks and Aces would have been notified of that, no matter the suit." She let a disappointed 'oh' escape her lips. Truth had lied to her. She wasn't in the castle, wasn't brought back. Was she even still alive? "Why do you ask?" he inquired.

She stared into his eyes for a long time. She didn't know whether to tell him of the mission or not. Could she speak of the mission to a Card? Could she speak of it to anyone? Would they get in trouble? Would she get in trouble? Would _he_? She didn't want anyone to get hurt because of her. She didn't want someone to befall whatever fate Milady Archer had. Not where they were meant to be safe. Not by the people they followed.

"Just curiosity," she finally answered, shrugging a bit. "I heard Truth and Liar say her name once and I thought that maybe they brought someone by that name here. It was just curiosity, really. I'll probably just ask them later." Charles could see through her lies. She believed anyone could see through her lying words. Despite being with the two who played best with honest and deceiving words, she just wasn't good at it.

He let out a sigh and crossed his arms. "All right, what's the actual reason you asked? Who's this Archer person you asked about?" Charles gave a reassuring smile to Princess, knowing that whatever she was trying to lie about was hard to speak of. "You know you can tell me anything and I won't say a word. You can trust me." She knew she could trust him. He had never done anything that even made her think otherwise. Still, hearing him say it made her relax a bit.

"I went on my first mission with the Cheshire Cats a week or so ago," she began, voice returning to a low whisper. Charles' smile grew for a moment before ceasing all together. Distress was growing in her eyes as she recollected the event in her mind. "We went to Lluvia to find out if these rumors were true or not. Everything was fine, but then–" She stopped, turning to a door opening.

"Good evening, Lord Eyes," said Charles, bowing to the man as he closed the door.

"Well, good evening, both of you." Eyes smiled his usual cheery smile at the two, a glass orb full of clear water in the palm of his right hand. "Did I interrupt a conversation, perhaps?" he asked, slightly leaning back against the door. He wasn't going anywhere.

"No," Princess quickly answered. "I was just, uh, asking if Hide and Seek or Tick and Tock came back from…that one place. Their missions." Charles stood up and gave a nod, saying nothing. Eyes looked from one to the other, a simple 'Ah-hah' escaping his lips. He obviously didn't believe them. Nonetheless, he went along with it for some reason. Among other things, Eyes, compared to most of the other higher-ups, such as Tick and Tock or Hide and Seek, was cordial.

"Well, I can kindly tell you they haven't come back yet, Princess. They probably won't arrive back here for a bit of time. A day…Or Three. Possibly even another week." He chuckled, throwing the glass orb up shoulder length and catching it once it came down. He repeated this as he spoke. "In any case, just as everyone was notified of your return, their return will be announced as well. In the meanwhile, I suggest enjoying the serenity of them not being around. Or, if you want to take the risk, steal something from their rooms." He caught the orb and shook it in his hand. "Just be careful of any traps they may have set, though I highly doubt that since this was easy enough to steal."

"Why did you steal that?" Princess asked, staring at it. She always wondered as to why Eyes did most of the things he did. He was an unusual man.

He chuckled again, balancing the orb on his pinky. "To be quite honest, I'm _re_-stealing it. Bloody Hatter took this from me some time ago and never wanted to give it back. But little did he know that I would insist on him going on a mission just so I could get it back. Never saw it coming, he didn't."

"Mind my asking, Lord Eyes, but you insisted he go just to get _that_ back?" Charles finally spoke, staring at the inanimate object in his hand as if it weren't more special than a random rock picked off the ground outside.

Eyes directed himself to the Jack of Spades and his cheery smile grew as he leaned forward a bit, once more resuming to throw the orb up into the air. "You see this and think of it as just a glass orb filled with water. Simple. No true value to it. Replaceable even. I see this orb and know its true purpose. There's more to this glass, more to the water, than meets the eyes. Mixed together they create quite the thing of value to those who know how to properly use it. Even to those who don't know would still find it valuable if they knew how it worked, at least." He stood straight and began to walk off down the corridor towards the stairs leading to the next floor up. "Think about it. And Princess, missions are confidential. It's a no-no to speak about it to anyone but the higher-ups. Unless, you know, it's in secret and not in the middle of a hallway. Possibly to someone who doesn't have ears, lips, and goes unnoticed even when out in the open. But I'm just saying." He disappeared around the corner, his voice echoing as he continued to speak to himself.

"He really is quite the bizarre person, huh?" asked Charles, thinking over what he had told them.

She agreed to the fullest. "He is but at least he's also helpful." She turned to him. "I'll tell you what I was going to tell you another time. I think, for now, I'll keep it to myself. Until the time is actually right. OK?" He gave no protest and nodded, adding 'As you wish, Princess Alice' and a bow just to agitate her. It worked, gaining him a slight glare and slap to the forehead when he bowed.

"Stop doing that, Charles."

"That's one order I'll probably never do." He smiled and watched her walk back the way she had come from, an annoyed expression lingering over her face. The Jack of Spades turned in place and resumed heading to his destination on the first floor to meet with two other Jacks of different suits.


	4. The Talking Garden

Hours turned to days. Days turned to weeks. Finally the weeks turned into a month. Tick, Tock, Hide, and Seek returned back from their mission a week just as Eyes had said. And just as he had said, they were all notified of their arrival. Princess caught a glimpse of each of them as they walked past the corridor to their own rooms. That was all she had seen of them since. She did, however, hear Tick and Eyes quarrel once in one of the many libraries of the castle. She guessed it was about the glass orb Eyes had re-stolen but she hadn't stuck around to verify.

Truth and Liar had returned back to their old ways, almost as if the mission had never taken place. Princess found it peculiar, to say the least. She met with them every morning for breakfast and every evening for dinner. That was the routine. Though usual, it had gotten awkward. She was unable to tell who the true Cats were. Were they simply putting on an act so she wouldn't be afraid of them in the castle? Were they really as cruel as they had acted at the Lluvia Library? How badly she wanted to confront them about the mission. She was allowed to, after all. They were Underground Wonderland higher-ups, just as she was. She wouldn't be breaking any rules. So what was holding her back? Was she still so terrified? She needed someone to speak to about that day. Anyone who _wasn't_ a higher-up.

Princess sat in the center of the flower garden at the back of the castle where the maze rested. Azaleas, roses, lilies, lilacs, iris, carnations, lavenders, rhododendron, and many more variety of flowers surrounded her. Their soothing scents made her relax as she lay back on the warm grass, her blond hair appearing white in the gleam of the sun as it lay spread out. She was tired of feeling so anxious. She just needed time to herself to think over everything more clearly. Closing her eyes she began to lightly hum a tune.

She remembered her mother singing the very same song to her when she was younger. Before she died near her eighth birthday. She had no photos of her. Not even of her father who had passed onto the next world when she was two. All her photos had been left behind at her aunt's home in Hayren, which had been burned in the fireplace by said aunt. Were it not for the Cheshire Cats, she would still have been living with her. She'd be locked in her room doing schoolwork with the windows chained locked. Oh how cruel her life had been with her aunt. She adored the castle and enjoyed the company of those she called friends. Still, it couldn't stop her short instances of longing for the old house she once called home with her mother.

"What ever is the matter, Princess Alice?" said a small voice to her right. She turned, seeing a golden lily sway back and forth, pedals shut for a moment before opening, the same voice resonating. "What has brought tears to your lovely brown eyes?"

"Has someone been cruel to you, Princess Alice?" asked an orange carnation.

"Has the day not gone right?" asked a white rose.

"Please, tell us what has made you cry," said a pink azalea.

This wasn't the first time the flowers had spoken. After the first five times she became accustom to them. Though the first time they spoke she ran back into the castle to tell the Cheshire Cats, dragging them back into the garden. The flowers didn't speak when they were there. It was silent. They explained to her how the flowers spoke only to those who were in need of being heard. Someone who needed to speak to another to let something out. Otherwise they were no more lively then a piece of wood. "They weren't always that way," Liar had said. "They use to always speak when spoken to, despite who the person may have been. They use to be very chatty. They could even sing. But time seems to have hushed them. For what reason the world hasn't one. Only the flowers know." She never did ask the flowers why and by the third time the question completely slipped her mind.

Princess sat up, feeling the warmth of her tears spill down her cheeks. Quickly she wiped them away with the back of her hand. "No one's been cruel to me and the day's been going just fine," she answered, smiling a bit. "I was just thinking about the past. I use to live with my aunt in Hayren."

The flowers gasped.

"You once lived in the town where the Wonderland Hunters reside?" asked a white carnation. She nodded. "How ever did you come to live here? Did they not try to rescue you from the claws of those terrible Cheshire Cats?"

"They tried but these 'terrible' Cheshire Cats managed to escape. I only really saw the Cheshire Cat Hunters following after." She hadn't spoken about that day to anyone. Not even to Charles, the Jack of Spades. It felt nice to finally speak about it to someone, even if those listening to her story were flowers. "That was actually the first time I ever saw a hunter. I didn't even know they lived in the same town as me. It was shocking. Less shocking than when Truth and Liar saved me from my misery there, of course. No, they freaked me out."

"Sounds so frightful to be plucked from your old home," said an iris in a soft, shy voice. Princess didn't disagree for it had indeed been frightful. The images of that day were fresh in her head, as if the event had barely happened not too long ago.

"It's odd to think that I was so scared of them back then," she said. "I didn't actually know anything about Underground Wonderland. I only knew what my classmates knew. They always talked about them during our small breaks in class. 'The Mad Hatter struck again!' Or 'The Cheshire Cats were spotted near Brim Forest!' Or 'Underground Wonderland stole something from blah, blah, blah.' My aunt read the newspaper and didn't allow me to watch anything on television, so I'd no idea of who they were or the people they talked about. It was a mystery." She leaned back on her hands, staring at a white cloud as it passed by, creating a cool shadow over her and the flowers. "It was only after I was saved that I learned who they were," she continued. "Truth and Liar, the Cheshire Cats of Underground Wonderland, a notorious criminal organization that's been around since way before I was born or even conceived. It took a while to get use to things but now…"

The flowers leaned forward. "'But now' what, Princess Alice?" they all said simultaneously.

"But now I think I'm scared of them again." When the sun beamed down on the garden again she squinted and looked to the marigolds, roses, and daffodils in front of her. "I'm not meant to speak about the mission we went on to anyone but the other higher-ups. I guess it's because they don't want anyone to tell others of the missions. Still, I don't want to speak with any of them. Not now and not about that, anyways. I also don't want to get anyone into trouble."

"We won't utter a word," said the orange carnation. "We will also not be harmed as we are but mere flowers in the eyes of others."

"We promise," said a daffodil. "You can trust us."

She trusted them. She was sure the flowers could keep her secrets secret. Looking left and right to make sure no one was around to listen she began to tell the flowers of the mission and of how the Cheshire Cats acted. She told them of Milady Archer and the things she had told her, and of the lie Truth had told (which she was still a bit angry about). "Have there…Were there any other Alice before me?" She had been wondering so much and that was one of the questions that lurked in her mind from what Milady Archer said. "I mean, any girls before who were like me? Called Princess, Alice, or something like that?"

Everything fell silent. Princess looked around at all the flowers. Had she asked the wrong question? Were it not for the shy iris the anxious feeling would have returned. "There _were_ other girls, Princess Alice. They did not speak to us as you did, however. They did not visit us in need of being heard. Not often, anyways."

"Each girl was the same age, though," spoke the golden lily. "They even disappeared at the same age. _Poof!_ Without a trace."

"Wh-What age was this?" Princess asked, staring at each flower as it spoke.

"We do not know, but the willow most certainly does," said the white rose. All flowers turned to the weeping willow that stood at the right back corner of the castle. "Willow, do you remember the age all Alice girls disappeared?"

The willow's branches swayed with a passing wind before ceasing and returning to hanging down. Princess had no idea of the trees speaking. She had never once heard them. The flowers enough were an amazement not soon forgotten. Again the willow's branches swayed. It took a moment for Princess to realize that a wind had not passed by as before. Nothing was said in the silence as the flowers turned back to her. Her eyes darted back and forth, wondering what had happened.

"The willow says the Alice before you were fifteen," said the white rose.

Princess looked from the rose to the willow and back, pointing to the tree once done. "Are you sure that's what the willow said, because I didn't hear anything." The flowers giggled. It made her feel like an idiot at that moment, hands moving to her lap as she moved the pale pink dress over her legs to hide them while she sat crisscross.

"No one can hear the trees speak because they know only the language of nature," said the pink azalea. "They do not know the language of beings such as yourself."

"Because we flowers know the language of beings such as yourself," spoke a white azalea, "we are able to translate for the trees. But because you know not the language of nature, you are unable to hear the trees speak." Princess understood, looking at the willow and waving. A branch swayed, waving back to her. It at least understood a greeting which made her more than happy.

Her mind snapped back to the answer she had received from the willow. "You said the girls disappeared at age fifteen and you're absolutely sure?" she asked. Her own fifteenth birthday wasn't far off. Would she disappear just as the others girls had?

"The willow says he's quite sure that the girls disappeared at that age," said the daffodil, translating. "We ourselves trust what the willow says. It is up to you whether to do the same or not, Princess Alice."

"No, no! I trust all of you. I trust what you've told me, willow, and I thank you!" The weeping willow gave a wave of his branches in response. She guessed that one of the flowers translated what she said. "It just worries me. I'm fourteen right now so it'll only be one year– or rather less than a year –until I'm fifteen. Until I…Until I probably disappear like those other girls. But the thing is, that worries me so much more because of what the woman Archer told me. She told me to escape. To go with the Wonderland Hunters. But I can't. They're out to get anyone from Underground Wonderland so going to them would be suicide."

The white rose turned to the red rose, turned to the marigolds, turned to the daffodils, and finally back to Princess. They had exchanged quick words in their language.

"If Hayren is your original home," began the white rose.

"Then quite possibly they won't harm you," continued the red rose.

"Though it be wise not to go alone should you decide to act upon the doubt of a thought," said a red carnation.

"Whatever your decision may be, we all wish and hope for your safety, Princess Alice," said the shy iris.

She smiled at the flowers. They were so kind to her. "Thank you. All of you." She stood up, brushing stray strands of grass off her dress. It grew silent and the flowers no longer moved. They were back to being ordinary flowers. Back to no longer speaking. She peered at the weeping willow, watching as he no longer moved either. It saddened her for a moment, but just a moment. She would talk to them another time, even if they did not speak back unless she truly needed them to. With that she walked back into the castle.


End file.
